Purple Cow

Here's a quick story.

I live in Los Angeles, and as you drive up the coast toward Santa Barbara, the landscape changes from a concrete cityscape to luscious countryside.

Alongside the freeway, you'll see grassy hills dotted with cows.

I have an eight-year-old boy, and when we see the cows, he'll say, 'oh look, there are cows on the hills!'

It's new and exciting.

But the novelty wears off after about 30 minutes of cows in the hills.

Eventually, the once-novel cows now fall into the background of the landscape.

It's no longer exciting or interesting.

Soon, we forget the cows are even there.

That is until all of a sudden we come across a Purple Cow.

My son exclaims, 'Is that a Purple Cow?!?'

So of course, we safely pull the car over to the side of the freeway, and my son's freaking out. He's like, "Dad, that's a Purple Cow!!!"

No surprise other people have pulled their cars over on the side of the freeway to check out this Purple Cow.

Everyone has their phones out, taking photos and videos of this Purple Cow.

Some people were taking selfies with the Purple Cow and posting them all over their social media.

The Purple Cow is REMARKABLE.

Meaning it stops people in their tracks because it's unique, exceptional and worth remarking over.

Great marketing is a Purple Cow.

With this in mind, I have two questions you:

Is your marketing typical, uninteresting, and expected (brown cows) or remarkable (Purple Cow)?

How's that working for you?

For more on this, check out Seth Godin book, Purple Cow. It's a fantastic read and I highly recommend it!

Frequently Asked Questions

What does the "brown cow" represent in this story?

Ordinary, expected marketing that starts out interesting but quickly fades into the background, just like the cows on the hills that were exciting for 30 minutes before becoming unnoticed scenery.

What does the "Purple Cow" represent?

Marketing so unique and exceptional it stops people in their tracks, worth remarking on, sharing, and photographing, the kind of impact ordinary, expected marketing simply can't produce.

Why did the Purple Cow get so much attention while the brown cows were ignored entirely?

Because novelty wears off quickly when something becomes expected, while genuine uniqueness continues to demand attention. People pulled over, took photos, and posted on social media specifically because it broke the pattern of the ordinary.

What's the practical marketing lesson from this story?

That marketing needs to be genuinely remarkable, not just typical and expected, to actually capture attention in a world full of "brown cows" that people have already learned to tune out.

Where can this idea be explored further?

Seth Godin's book Purple Cow, recommended as a fantastic read that expands directly on this concept of standing out in a way that's genuinely worth remarking on.